Abstract

CAN THE EFFECTS OF AGE DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING AND RECALL OF VISUO-SPATIAL MATERIAL BE REDUCED?
The subject of the experiment was the influence of adult age differences in the immediate and delayed recall of visuospatial material. The learning material consisted of an arrangement of geometrical objects which were shown to 90 adults, half of them being younger and older ones respectively. The arrangement was presented four times for 40 seconds on each occassion. Contextual guidance which was directly or indirectly aimed at triggering off strategic processing was varied experimentally. Self-estimations regarding the correctness of recall were taken as indicators of metacognitive awareness of learning behavior. The results showed that age-related deficits in immediate recall increased across learning trials. In the delayed recall condition age differences were most accentuated. Inducing strategic processing had no effect on memory performance. With regard to the self-estimations, too, age-related deficits became appearent. These deficits were likely to be accentuated by strategy induction.